History of Balfour Declaration of 1917
Introduction
The Balfour declaration of 1917 was signed in November 2, 1971 by the British government. The Balfour declaration is a formal policy that was signed by the British government to establish a home in Palestine for the Jewish community. The policy stated that the majesty’s government would support the establishment of a national home for Jewish people in Palestine. The policy also stated that the government would use all the means possible to facilitate the achievement of the plan. The policy included a statement that stated that the government will not use any means that interfere with the civil and religious rights of people who are not Jewish. Also, the government will not use any measures that interfere with the political status enjoyed by the Jews community in Palestine. The Balfour declaration has some advantages and disadvantages. It led to conflicts between the Israelites and the Arabs and creation of Israel nation. This paper analyzes the history Balfour declaration of 1917.It analyzes what is Balfour declaration and what it did. Also, it analyzes the outcomes of the Balfour declarations, the advantages, disadvantages and the consequences.
Balfour declaration of 1917
The Balfour declaration was issued in form of a letter and the letter was delivered to Lord Rothschild from the British foreign secretary. Later on the letter was taken to Chaim Weitzman who was a Zionist activist. The letter contained a government agreement to establish a home for Jewish community in Palestine (Chaurasia 2005). People have developed various theories to explain why the British government issued the Balfour declaration. Some think the British government established the Balfour declaration because it wanted the Jews to help the British government get financial assistance. In addition, they argue that the British issued the declaration because it wanted to bring US into war. Others think the declaration was issued to allow the British government fulfill the promises made to France and Arabs about Palestine. The British government established the Balfour declaration to fulfill the promise made during world war I.This is because the British government needed support from the Arabs to fight the Ottoman Empire (Chaurasia 2005).
So, British promised to support the development of an Arab nation that included Arabs and people from Palestine. British promised in the Husayn correspondence of 1915-1916 to create the nation, but it later denied the promise. In addition, British promised in the skyes to control the region including Palestine with other countries. The British government needed support from Russian government and French government so it had to make the promises. Historians argue that the British government made the promise to create the Palestine nation and issued the declaration because of long term and short reasons. The British government wanted support from other nations to bring America into the world war I.Also, the British government wanted to prevent the Russian government from leaving it (Chaurasia 2005).
The claim that the British government established the Balfour declaration because it needed money is true. The British government needed money from the Jews. So it had to create a home for Jews in palatine. The government had to issue the declaration so as to get financial assistance from Jews so as to increase its effort in the war (Chaurasia 2005).
Also, people suggest that the difference in views held by people in England supported the Zionist objectives to establish a Jewish home. Christians in Palestine considered it their duty to help Jews move to Palestine. This was mainly to allow the biblical prophesy to be fulfilled. So, the Christians supported the creation of the Jews nation in the country. Some of the liberals like Balfour and David Lloyd argue that the West was not fair towards the Jewish community. They argued that the West had committed injustices towards the Jewish community. They claimed that the historical injustice needed to be resolved .This in turn forced the British government to issue the declaration so as to make the Jewish equal with other communities in the country. The government promised to respect the rights of non Jewish in Palestine while implementing the agreement. This is because the agreement brought different views in Palestine. Some people supported it while others rejected it. This document interfered with the rights of non Jewish community (Chaurasia 2005).
Social political factors contributed a lot to the issuance of the Balfour declaration of 1917. The Jewish community contributed a lot to British society. Though, the Jewish community contributed a lot to the British society, the British community and other communities did not treat Jewish well. The British government decided to create the Balfour declaration so as to allow the Jews community to be recognized like other communities (Hadawi 1991).
Apart from the socio political factors, the British government made several promises during world war one. The British government made agreements with the Arabs. Henry McMahon exchanged letters with Hussein in 1915 and promised the Arabs to give them control over the Arab lands apart from the mediterarrian coast. Hussein did not agree with the agreement as he thought that the Arabs of Beirut would resist from being isolated from the Arab state. The British government did not state clearly whether the area of Jerusalem was included in the agreement and this caused confusion. The Arabs signed other treaties which included the Palestine. People had different views on where the Jewish home should be located. Some argued that Uganda should become the Jewish home while others thought that Palestine was the best areas to set a Jewish home (Chaurasia 2005).
After the British government agreed with the Arabs and other communities to create a Jewish home, it established the Jewish home in Palestine. People reacted differently towards the Balfour declaration. Some did not agree with the Balfour declaration while others agreed with the Balfour declaration. The Balfour declaration became a controversial issue. The document drew different reactions from the Jewish and other people. Some of the Jewish were being disturbed by the Balfour declaration as they did not want creation of Jewish states. The Jewish did not support the Zionist aim to create a Jewish nation. Some of the Jews did not support the idea. They argued that the Balfour declaration would bring conflicts in other countries. Creating a Jewish nation would interfere with the Jewish in other countries and their rights (Chaurasia 2005).
For example, Sir Edwin Montagu who is a Jewish member of the British cabinet argued that the Balfour declaration would bring conflict in the Jewish community as it did not respect the Jews in other countries. He also argued that Zionism was a political creed supported by people who wanted the Jewish community to be seen equal. Instead, Sir Edwin argued that the British government should aim at uniting the Jewish community with other communities instead of distancing it from other communities. Other people argued that Palestine is not the right place for Jewish people to stay though it contributed a lot to the Jewish religion (Hadawi 1991).
The balfour declaration of 1917 had different con to the Jews and other communities. First, the Balfour declaration was not inline with the spirits of independence issued to Arabs before and after it was given to the community. The document interfered with the rights of the Arab community as it deprived them control. The British government was supposed to give the Arabs control over the country apart from Palestine. This interfered with the independence of the country. Thus, the reason the Arabs rejected the document. This led to war between the Arabs and Jews (Hadawi 1991).
Second, the document interfered with the rights of the native communities in Palestine. Additionally, the document interfered with the interest of native Palestine’s. This is because the British government wanted to settle people who were not Palestinians in Palestine. This would violate with the rights of the native Palestine. Though, the British government saw the Balfour declaration beneficial to the British government and the Jews, it had adverse effects to native Palestinians (Thomas 1999).
The Balfour declaration led to various outcomes. The Balfour declaration of 1917 led to creation of the Jewish community in Palestine. The British government decided to use the Balfour declaration to create a Jewish nation in Palestine. Most people link the birth of Israel country to the Balfour declaration. They claim that the efforts made by the British government led to development of the Israel country. The British government fought for equal rights between the Jewish and non Jewish communities in the country. The British government established a Jewish nation in Palestine so as to ensure equality. This led to the birth of the Israel country (Thomas 1999). The Israel nation is the only Jewish nation in the country. The nation was created thought the Balfour declaration and support from other religions like Christianity. Christians supported the British government in creating a Jewish nation. This is because the Christian wanted the Jewish community to move to Palestine so as to fulfill the prophecy in the bible. The Israel nation was created as a result of the Balfour declaration and spiritual support (Thomas 1999).
Most people used the spiritual text to campaign for creation of the Jewish community. For example, Christians used spiritual texts to campaign for creation of Jewish nation. This is because Palestine had a lot of meaning to the Jewish religion (Thomas 1999). Historians argue that the Balfour declarations had negative effects to people of Palestine. The Balfour declaration led to conflicts between the Arabs and Jewish. After the creation of the Palestine nation, the population of Jewish in Palestine increased. Most Jews migrated from other countries to Palestine where they established new lives. This is because the Balfour declaration permitted them to move to Palestine and live a new life (Thomas 1999).
As the population of the Jews increased, the conflict between the Arabs and the Jews increased. The Arabs did not support the movement of the Jews to Palestine as it deprived them control and interfered with rights of the native Palestine. They thought that the movement of Jewish would lead to fall of Arabs in the country. The Arabs and the Jews were involved frequently in fight. This is because the two groups had different interests. The British government took control of Palestine as it had stated in the declaration. This fueled the conflict between the Arabs and the Jewish as the Arabs did not have control. The British government denied the Arab community control and instead ruled Palestine temporary. The conflicts between the Jewish and the Arabs led to other crimes in the society (Thomas 1999).
The Balfour declaration has some advantages and disadvantages. The Balfour declaration has a lot of advantages as stated by historians. The Balfour declarations led to creation of the Israel nation. This is an advantage as it the British helped the Israel nation become an independent state and gain independence from the colonists. Historians argue that if it were not for the Balfour declaration of 1917, the Israelites could not have an independent state. The creation of the Israel state is as a result of the efforts made by the British government through the Balfour declaration of 1917 (Pasachoff &Littman 2005).
Moreover the Balfour declarations of 1917 have an advantage as it helped bring equality in Palestine. The Balfour declarations stimulated the flow of Jewish community to Palestine. The Jews moved to Palestine freely and this changed the composition of the population in country. The social make up of the region changed as a result of movement of Jewish into the country. This led to creation of an Israel state in the region as the number of Jews out numbered the number of non Jewish communities in the region (Pasachoff &Littman 2005)
The Balfour declarations have several disadvantages. First, the Balfour declarations of 1917 led to the present conflicts between the Arabs and the Jews. It fueled the war activities evidenced in Palestine. This is because the declaration brought the Jews community to Palestine and this interfered with the rights other communities that did not belong to Jewish community. This resulted to conflict between the Arabs and the Jewish as the population of Jewish increased (Pasachoff &Littman 2005). The British government promised the Jewish and the Arabs the same land. The British government promised the Arabs control over the mediterrarian region, but they did not state clearly if Palestine was included. The Arabs did not reject the agreement and they supported the creation of the Jewish home in Palestine.
Also, the British government promised the Jews to create a Jewish home land in Palestine. The rights to create the Jewish home in Palestine were stated in the Balfour declarations. Later on, the Jewish and the Arabs realized that they had been promised the same country. The Arabs resisted Jews migration as they saw it to bring problems in future. The Arabs argued that the Jews were a threat to their way of life and they could lead to more problems later. This led to conflicts between the Israelites and the Arabs. The residents in the countries still conflict as they see each other as a threat. The effects of the Balfour declarations are still evidenced today as the Arabs and Israelis are always in conflict because of political, social and economic reasons (Pasachoff &Littman 2005).
The Balfour declarations led to death of citizens both Jews and Arabs. This is after the Arabs and the Jews disagreed on who should occupy the land. The two communities were promised same land by the British government. At first, the communities tolerated each other and lived in harmony. They did not know who should occupy the land as the British government has disagreed giving the two communities land. Later, in 1929, the relation between the two communities broke down (Pasachoff &Littman 2005).
The two communities started fighting each other as the Arabs did not want the Jews to occupy the land. They believed that the land had a holy significance to them and the Jews also claimed the land had a holy significance to them. The violence did not stop the Jews from moving to Palestine, the population of Jewish immigrants increased. The violence recurred again 1936 and it had adverse effects to the citizens (Pasachoff &Littman 2005).
Conclusion
The Balfour declaration is an official document that was meant to establish a Jewish home in Palestine. The British government developed the document in 1917 so as to use it to create a Jewish home in Palestine. It was one of the promises the British government made to the Jews. Also, the British government made a promise with the Arabs to give them control over the Palestine land so as to get help from the Arabs. The British government wanted the Arabs to support it in fighting its enemies. People claim that there are various reasons why the British government issued the Balfour declarations. Some claim that the British government issued the Balfour declaration so as to get money from the Jewish community to increase its effort in the war. The Jewish community contributed a lot to the British society. They offered assistance to the British community in terms of money.
This forced the British government to promise the Jews a home in Palestine. Also, the British government wanted support from other countries like Russia so it needs to promise them to the Palestine land. Others argue that Christians helped the British government establish the Jewish home in Palestine. This is because the Christians thought that the Jewish community should move to Palestine so as to fulfill the prophecy. Apart from the Christian contributions, the social political factors led to creation of Jewish home. The Jewish did not enjoy equality like other communities. Christians and other people thought that the Balfour declarations could bring equality. The Balfour declarations of 1917 have some advantages and disadvantages. The Balfour declarations led to creation of the Israel nation. The population of Jewish increased after the implementation of the Balfour declarations.
This led to creation of the Israel nationals; the Balfour declarations changed the composition of the population in the area. It led to equality as the Arabs were able to stay with the Jews. The Balfour declarations have some disadvantages. The Balfour declarations led to development of conflict between the Arabs and the Israelis. The two groups conflicted as they had different beliefs and interests. Both the Jewish and the Arabs argued that Palestine had a great significance to them. The Arabs did not support the migration of Jews into the country as it interfered with their way of life. This in turn led to conflicts between the Arabs and the Jews. The effects of the Balfour declarations are evidenced to day as the Israelites and the Arabs are constantly conflicting.
Reference
Pasachoff, .N.E., &Littman, .R.J.A concise history of the Jewish people. Rowman & Littlefield, 2005
Thomas, B. How Israel was won: a concise history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Lexington Books, 1999
Chaurasia, R.S. History of Middle East. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, 2005
Hadawi, S. Bitter harvest: a modern history of Palestine. Interlink Books, 1991
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